


&burn

by potterheading



Series: i'm not angry anymore (well, sometimes i am) universe [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Arson, Childhood Trauma, Dark Draco Malfoy, Dark Harry Potter, Homicide, Homophobic Language, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Murder, Not Beta Read, Revenge, Violence, be gay do crime, duh - Freeform, lowercase intended
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-25 06:14:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30084702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/potterheading/pseuds/potterheading
Summary: “incendio,” draco whispers - and the car bursts into flames.-in which harry and draco confront the dursleys.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Series: i'm not angry anymore (well, sometimes i am) universe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2213598
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32





	&burn

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for clicking! 
> 
> this story is one part of a four/five part series - the remaining fics will be uploaded within the next few days!
> 
> tw for morally dubious draco and harry, arson, murder, and brief graphic violence!
> 
> title from &burn by billie eilish
> 
> enjoy!

“are you ready to go?” 

draco appears in the doorway of the bathroom, watching harry carefully. he twirls his wand deftly between his fingers, occasionally thwacking the end against his thigh. he looks deceptively casual, as if he’s simply waiting for harry so that they can go pick up a few groceries, or go visit their friends. 

“i’m ready,” harry murmurs, running another hand through his wild hair. as usual, his efforts were futile, and the curls sprang right back up, falling over his forehead and hanging in his eyes. 

“are you sure?” draco says softly, moving forward to stand behind harry. he lays a hand on harry’s shoulder, feeling the tense knot just beneath the skin. “you can stay here if you’d like. i know the address, i can go alone.” 

“don’t be stupid, draco,” harry says dryly, turning to wrap his arms around draco’s waist. he pulls him close, pressing their foreheads together and looking up and over into draco’s eyes. they stand like that for a long moment, their breath mingling in the space between them. the moonlight shines through their bathroom window, casting a faint glow over them. right now, in the early hours of the morning, the rest of the world is asleep - but they are wide awake, and entirely alive. harry leans forward, catching draco’s lips in a sweet, slow kiss. draco whimpers softly, already melting and losing himself in the kiss, the way that he does every single time, without exception. “i’m not letting you go alone.”

-

they land at the very end of privet drive with a quiet pop, their fingers still laced together.

draco allows harry to lead them towards the house, although he distinctly remembers the exact address from the time harry had told him about the horrid muggles, and would have been able to locate it himself. he looks around as they stroll down the sidewalk, wondering how exactly the muggles that lived here were able to distinguish their home from the others on the street. everything looked exactly the same, from the meager gardens in the front to the conservative suv’s sitting in the carparks. it made draco’s skin crawl, seeing the way these houses lined up beside each other like soldiers, indistinguishable from each other. 

malfoy manor hadn’t had any close neighbors - neither had any of the wizarding homes he had visited, ever. each house was unique in design and personality, and perfectly suited to the needs of each family. the houses lining privet drive lacked any sort of personality or flair, and it looked, frankly, depressing. 

he couldn’t wait to leave. 

they arrived in front of number four fairly quickly, and harry hesitated on the street before the house. draco took charge now, half leading and half pulling harry up the park before either could lose their nerve. or rather, harry would take the moral high ground and guilt draco into returning home with him to drink warm mugs of tea and pretend that they had never thought of this - had never tried to go through with it. 

harry unlocked the door with a wave of his hand, and paused once more in the doorway, peering into the darkness. draco stands beside him, uncharacteristically patient. after a moment, harry moves forward slowly, stopping once again at the foot of the stairs. he places a shaky hand on the rail, seemingly leaning on it. 

draco steps past him, moving down the hall and coming to a rest before the door to the cupboard. he pauses, frozen, staring at it blankly. it’s short - only comes up to about his thigh. he would have to get on the floor and crawl like a child just to fit in the door. 

“harry,” he says softly, turning to look at him. “is this…?” 

he already knows the answer, but needs the confirmation, needs a small reminder of exactly why they’re here. harry nods jerkily and looks away - draco turns back to the cupboard, practically shaking with rage. it’s _so_ much smaller than he thought it would be, than it had sounded in harry’s descriptions. he reaches down and yanks it open, peering inside. 

an old, threadbare blanket lies on the ground, and a few boxes and crates are crammed into the further corner of the space. aside from the clutter, the cupboard remains mostly empty, save for a shelf, littered with small, broken action figures - remnants from harry’s childhood. he imagines a young harry, curled inside of this dark, dank space, cold and afraid and feeling as if he would never be loved. suddenly, draco feels heavily nauseous, along with the urge to cry, and to also blow down the entire fucking house. 

“draco,” harry whispers, breaking his trance. he still stands by the foot of the stairs and doesn’t make a move towards the cupboard. he seems to be avoiding it, and it makes draco angrier at harry’s stupid muggles. 

“i can’t believe they - you lived in there…. there’s hardly any space -” he scrambles for words but finds them hard to reach. 

“only til i was eleven,” harry says softly, as if draco is the one in need of comfort. “i moved upstairs then. after i started at hogwarts.” 

“eleven,” draco mutters. at eleven, he had just received his own wing in malfoy manor, and his own personal house elf. he had slept in a large, fluffy bed with lots of space, and had been doted on. at eleven, he had been happy. “yes - yes,” he refocuses, and makes a conscious effort to calm his rage into a slow, controlled burn, rather than the wildfire that threatens to consume him now. “right. follow me.”

draco doesn’t bother with quiet or stealth anymore - he flicks on lights and stomps up the stairs, hoping that they hear him coming, that he’s able to strike fear in their hearts as he approaches. he goes to the end of the hallway at the top of the stairs, recalling what harry had told him about the layout of the home, and kicks the door open, so forcefully that it hangs off of its hinge haphazardly. 

in the bed, petunia sits upright, her eyes wide with fear. beside her, vernon snores on. 

“vernon,” she hisses, “vernon, wake up!” 

“yes, vernon, do wake up!” draco shouts, flicking on the light switch. 

vernon does - lurching awake with a loud snort. he panics for a moment, looking around wildly between petunia and draco, before his eyes settle on the wand in draco’s hand. his small, beady eyes become impossibly wide, his face turning red. 

“you, you - you’re one those magic freaks!” he splutters, pointing at draco with a fat finger. “a wizard!”

“indeed,” draco sneers moving forward. “get out of bed, now. and stay silent.” 

they don’t immediately obey. instead, their eyes dart somewhere behind draco, growing impossibly wider. draco doesn’t have to turn to know that harry has appeared in the doorway. 

“you, _boy_ \- bringing more freaks into my home. i ought to - ” 

“you ought to nothing,” draco sneers, storming forward and snatching the blankets off of petunia and vernon. “you rotund waste of space - get out of the fucking bed, _now_!”

they do, and draco hustles them together into the hallway, one hand dragging petunia and the other using his wand to poke vernon’s large backside. they bustle along, complaining and whining and being generally annoying. harry stands to the side, watching silently with his arms crossed in front of his chest. he instructs petunia and vernon to stand still, shoving his wand into each of their faces as he kicks in dudley’s door and gathers him up in much of the same manner he had used for his parents. 

when he has has all of the dursleys in a line, whimpering and clutching each other, draco forces them down the steps, pushing them not-quite-delicately. they pause at the front door as harry disappears into the kitchen, before reappearing with a pair of keys on his finger. he tosses them to draco seamlessly as draco turns to address the muggles. 

“if you make a sound, i’ll leave you dead in your driveway,” he sneers. “now what you’re going to do is walk very carefully, and very quietly out of this door, and into the car. you will get in the backseat, and you will be very silent. do you understand me?” 

vernon and dudley nod stupidly, their identical faces stricken with fear, while petunia looks over at harry imploringly. 

“he will,” harry snorts, cocking an eyebrow. it’s a move directly from draco’s own repertoire, and it warms his heart. “you’d better listen to him.” 

\- 

draco drives. 

harry had taught him about a year into their relationship, and had bought him a car for his twenty-third birthday. he had been surprised that he loved the activity as much as he did - but driving quickly became one of draco’s favorite pastimes. he and harry often bundled into his car and set off with no specific destination in mind, driving and talking and laughing for hours before making their way back home and finishing their conversation on the sofa, or in bed. 

the familiar euphoria ashes over him even now as he navigates the unfamiliar suv of the dursleys - larger and cheaper than what he was used to but still passable. once he figured out how to work the gadgets and buttons they were off, with the windows down and the stereo tuned to some station that played fuzzy old music that draco hummed along to even though he definitely didn’t know the tunes. he drove as if he had been born to do it - one had on the wheel and the other on the console, his and harry’s fingers lightly intertwined. 

the dursleys crammed in the backseat, with vernon behind draco and dudley behind harry, with skinny petunia squished between them. they stayed nearly completely silent, only speaking when draco asked them a direct question or to whimper quietly with fear. draco didn’t allow this to phase him. as far as he was concerned, this was just he and harry, simply out for another long drive.

harry stares out the window as they go, resting his chin in the palm of his hand and taking in th endless miles of grass and field that they pass. draco finds himself frequently looking over at harry, admirming the line of his jaw, the stormy look in his eyes. he’s beautiful - the most beautiful man draco has ever seen, and he’d do anything for him. 

_is_ going to do anything for him. 

“do you think this is far enough?” draco asks after many long minutes. they hadn’t passed another car in what felt like ages, and there was no civilization anywhere in sight. harry startles, suddenly coming out of his trance. 

“yes,” he says gruffly, looking around. “this is fine.” 

draco nods, pulling the car off to the side of the road and turning it off. he turned in his seat to glance at the dursleys, who all blinked back at him with eyes wide from fear. then, he turned back to harry, who was staring down at his lap. it was unusual for him to stay quiet for this long - car rides had always been punctuated with laughter and lively conversation, not tense silence and an eerie sense of foreboding. 

“kiss me,” draco says suddenly, catching harry’s eye. he leans in. 

“what?” harry laughs lightly, obviously shocked. “come on draco, stop messing around -” 

“no,” draco murmurs, reaching over and pulling harry close. “kiss me.” 

harry shrugs and leans the rest of the way in, catching draco’s lips in a sweet kiss. it is, as all of their kisses tend to be, earth shattering. for a few long moments, the rest of the world disappears, and it is only them, in this car, pressed together over the console. draco places his palm on harry’s cheek gently, lapping at his bottom lip in an effort to increase the pressure - but their bubble shatters as belligerent spluttering sounds from the backseat. vernon, having seemingly recovered from shock, was practically purple in the face with rage and disgust. 

“so you’re a bloody fairy as well! always knew something wasn’t right about you, you _freak_ , you -“ 

“shut the fuck up, you filthy muggle,” draco sneers, spinning in his seat. harry had flinched as vernon had started spewing his drivel, and draco suddenly wanted his head on a stick. he pulls out his wand and shoves it towards vernon, savouring the way he flinches. “get out of the car. all of you. now.” 

the dursleys amble out of the car clumsily, standing awkwardly in the middle of the road while draco watches, leaning against the side of the car. harry stands further away, his arms crossed in front of his chest. he’s been hesitating all night - as if he wants draco to take the lead. draco accepts the role gladly. 

“on your knees,” he barks, stalking forward. “now.” 

draco paces before them for a long while, allowing tension to build as he mulls over what it is exactly that he wants to do to them. harry hadn’t wanted to torture them unnecessarily, despite how much draco had wanted to. a desire only magnified upon meeting the dursleys, upon encountering vernon, and seeing that _fucking cupboard._ harry was, without question, the best person that draco had ever met. he was selfless and generous and unfailingly kind to everyone he met. harry deserved to be doted on and looked after by everyone he met, to have the ground he walked on worshipped. he didn’t deserve cupboards, and to be called a freak, and to feel unloved and insecure - 

“so what then, boy!” vernon spat, glaring over at harry. “you and your boyfriend here bought us all the way out here, for what? to mess with us… to show us a freaky magic trick?” 

“don’t you dare speak to him,” draco snapped, sending a slight stinging hex at vernon. he howled as if he had been _crucioed_ , and draco was tempted to actually do so. where did vernon, this painfully unremarkable muggle get off with trying to make harry feel small? draco sent another stinging hex, just for good measure. “are you sorry for all that you did to him?” 

“what?” vernon squints up at draco, his bushy mustache furrowing. “what are you on about?” 

  
“ _are you sorry_ ,” draco sneered, coming to a stop before vernon. he pushed his wand into vernon’s meaty and bent down just a bit, close enough so that vernon could clearly see the hatred in his eyes. “for the cupboard… the starvation… the beatings… the emotional neglect… he’s told me about all of it. have you any regret?”

“we took good care of the boy!” vernon scoffed, and draco fought the urge to roll his eyes. “kept him fed, and clothed, a roof over his head! there are children all over the world who don’t have those things, who would’ve been grateful to have been taken in by us! but not him - the boy was ungrateful, every day of his life… never once said thank you.” 

“say _thank you_? he watched you dote on your biological son, while you treated him like trash, and fed him scraps. and you wanted him to turn around and say thank you?”

“i never wanted another child!” petunia bursts suddenly, her lip trembling dramatically. “i was satisfied with just my dudders, we were happy! and then - then lily went and got herself murdered, and we were saddled with the child… we weren’t prepared, not at all -” 

“shut up!” draco roars, pointing his wand in her direction. he spits at their feet, feeling more hatred than he’s ever felt in his life. “that’s not an excuse - it - that doesn’t fucking matter! he was a child! placed in your care!” 

“draco,” harry says softly, but his voice carries. draco turns around, forcing himself to stay calm. he knows he must look crazed, and that his magic is crackling around him wildly. harry’s voice serves as an anchor, grounding him and reminding him to remain in control. 

“i’m sorry,” he says to harry, “can i…?” 

harry nods, and draco turns back around, his well-practiced sneer settling back into place. 

“you,” he snaps, jerking his head at vernon. “when was harry born?” 

“what?” vernon glares at draco harder than ever, wobbling slightly on his knees. “what are you on about?” 

“you heard me… when was harry born?” 

“i don’t bloody well know, what’s it to -”

  
draco slashes his wand through the air, and vernon’s eyes flutter back into his head as he slumps forward, unconscious. petunia’s sobs and dudley’s terrified screams fill the air, and draco scoffs. they both tremble visibly, spouting nonsense and pleading with draco for mercy. he revels in this for a moment, satisfaction blooming in his chest as the grim reality of their situation settles over the remaining dursleys.

_"no_ _!"_ petunia sobs, “venon! oh, vernon! is he dead, did you kill him?” 

“not yet,” draco says casually, nudging vernon’s body with his foot. “but soon.” 

petunia cries harder, and draco has to work very hard to bite down a cruel smile. he stands before her, watching her cry and beg for a bit. beside her, dudley whimpers quietly, shaking violently, with his eyes trained on the back of his fathers meaty skull. eventually petunia’s sobs die down into soft sniffles, and draco continues. 

“petunia,” he says sweetly, tipping her chin up with the end of his wand. “is there anything you’d like to say to harry?” 

“what?” she cries, looking rapidly between harry and draco. 

“is there anything you’d like to say.” he repeats, smiling. “perhaps an apology?” 

“well, i - i tried my best. i did what i could for the boy!” she nods jerkily, as if trying to convince herself of the words coming out of her mouth. “ _i haven’t done anything wrong_! i’ve been a good wife, a good mother, a good woman! vernon was right - he was ungrateful! we are good people!” 

“is that really what you think?” he asks, cocking an eyebrow. his throat burns, every part of him aches - but he continues. “your ignorance and your pride will be the death of you, petunia.” 

she collapses to the ground with a significantly smaller _thump_ than vernon, but the sound is satisfying nonetheless. with another flick of his wrist, vernon’s body floats into the air, and draco guides him into the front seat of the car. he takes a moment to amuse himself, placing vernon’s meaty hands on the steering wheel and then laughing when they flop off, into his lap. he looks even larger, stuffed into the tight front seat - a bit like an overstuffed turkey. he does the same for petunia, sitting her up in the passenger seat and crossing her hands tightly in her lap. he snorts as her head lolls dangerously to the side. 

“long neck on this one,” draco mutters, glancing over at harry. he pantomimes choking her, and for the first time all evening, harry laughs. it dies quickly when he looks over at dudley, who seems to be frozen in shock. 

“dudley,” draco tuts quietly, walking over to him. “hello there.”

“are my parents dead?” he stammers, staring over draco’s shoulder at harry. “harry, don’t let him kill my parents. that’s my mum and dad.” 

harry looks away, towards the car. 

“they’re not dead,” draco says. “not yet, at least.” 

dudley whimpers. 

“how about you and i have a little talk?” draco kneels before dudley, so that they are face-to-face. he sets his wand down on the ground beside him, and watches as dudley relaxes a bit. “so, _dudders_ , did you ever tell your friends at school about what your parents were doing to harry? any teachers… anyone? about how he was sleeping in a cupboard… barely getting meals… being generally neglected?” 

“no,” dudley stammers, shaking his head wildly. “no.” 

“oh?” draco cocks an eyebrow and purses his lips. “why not?”

dudley seems to have realized that he had gone wrong somewhere, and his beady eyes begin to water. “it - it didn’t feel important. it didn’t come up,” he stammers, his lips trembling. he looks around as he talks, as if used to having someone to look at for guidance when answering questions. 

“well that’s a lie,” draco says pleasantly. “why didn’t you tell anyone?” 

“because i didn’t want my parents to get in trouble,” he says softly, looking down. 

“there it is,” draco says softly, curling his hands into fists at his side. if he hadn’t just gotten a manicure with pansy the day before, he might’ve considered wrapping his hands around dudley’s large throat and squeezing. “you didn’t tell anyone because you didn’t want your parents to get in trouble… because you knew that what they were doing was wrong. knew that they were hurting him. knew that you wouldn’t have wanted to be in his position…. did you even try to help him? ever?” 

“i was just a kid - “ dudley begins, his eyes wide. 

“so was he!” draco roars. dudley flinches away, shrinking in fear. there’s a long silence, during which draco stands and pockets his wand. dudley relaxes once more, although he doesn’t stop trembling. draco begins to stroll again, slowly. “dudley…. you know, you remind me of myself when i was younger. a bully. never having an original thought. doing whatever my parents told me to.” 

dudley’s face softens as he listens - he looks almost hopeful now. a wobbly smile spreads across his face and he looks up at draco. “oh, yeah?”

“yea,” he says softly, walking behind dudley. “it’s my biggest regret, ever being like that. i make up for it every single day. you know, i would kill that version of myself if i could. but i can’t, not really. so i suppose you’ll have to do.” 

horror spreads across dudley’s face as he realizes too late - draco flicks his wrist and a long cut appears across dudley’s throat, blood pouring from it rapidly. from beside the car, harry flinches visibly as the sound of flesh ripping fills the air, and fully turns around as dudley’s body hits the pavement. he doubles over and promptly loses his dinner, and draco rushes to his side. 

“harry?” draco’s voice is soft and affectionate now, nothing like the cruel, sickly sweet tone he had used with the dursleys. he places a gentle hand on harry’s back, feeling the tension melt away beneath his touch. “are you okay, love?” 

“i’m fine,” harry pants, wiping the back of his mouth. “it’s just - dudley… _fuck,_ ” 

“i’m sorry, baby,” draco whispers, “i should’ve checked with you again before i - did you not want me to…”

“no, i did… i - i don’t know. i don’t know, _i don’t know, draco,_ ” he blinks hard, his chest heaving and his voice wavering. draco opens his arms and harry goes into them easily, pressing his ear into draco’s chest, searching for his heartbeat. he finds it, and he relaxes marginally. “it was so - _so_ awful… the cupboard, and -” 

“okay,” draco whispers, stroking harry’s wild hair. “that’s okay, harry. i'm sorry.”

they stand there for a few long moments, with harry trembling in draco’s arms and draco pressing gentle kisses to his shoulder. when harry pulls away, draco nods, murmuring about finishing his job. he transfigures dudley’s body back to normal, closing the wound in his throat and vanishing all of the blood on his body and on the ground. he seems to be sleeping, aside from his deathly pallor. draco levitates him simply into the backseat of the car, not bothering to play any games with the body. once he slams the door, he moves back across the street, and harry follows closely behind him. for a moment, they simply stand in silence, staring at the car. 

“ _locomotor_ ,” draco whispers, flicking his wand. the car floats into the air smoothly and, under the guidance of his wand, moves a few feet into the field at the side of the road. he drops it haphazardly and critiques his work for a second before deciding that he was pleased. 

it looked as if they had veered off of the road. 

_as if they had been in a car accident._

“harry,” draco says, looking over at him. “are you ready? can i -” 

“yes,” harry says, with a jerky nod. he reaches over and takes draco’s hand, gripping it firmly. “i’m ready.” 

draco extends his wand once more, his arm long, straight, and steady. harry watches him - he looks elegant, regal, every inch the pureblood scion that he is, _was._

“ _incendio_ ,” draco whispers - and the car bursts into flames. 

the fire is a slow burn, crackling with tension and growing hotter and wilder as each moment passes. harry watches with slightly parted lips as the flames grow, emanating heat in waves even from across the street. a heavy, acrid scent pours from the car, burning their nostrils. the sounds of glass shattering and plastic crackling rips loudly through the air, and thick spirals of smoke curl into the sky in a lazy spiral. 

draco flicks his wrist once more, and a shield snaps into place over them - just as the car explodes and parts go flying. harry flinches - the sound is deafening, and only slightly muffled by the shield charm holding fast around them. 

“i thought you were afraid of fire,” harry murmurs, leaning heavily into draco. he watches as draco fishes out a cigarette and lights it wordlessly before putting it to his lips and taking a heavy drag. harry hates when draco smokes - but decides against saying anything. he rests his head on his shoulder, inhaling the sickly sweet smoke, trapped inside of their small bubble. 

“harry, darling,” draco whispers, taking another drag. “you know i’d face any fear for you.” 

they stand and watch the car burn until the very last flame splutters out weakly. 

then, draco drops his cigarette and snuffs it out with the toe of his boot, and they go home.   
  


**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! 
> 
> i've been thinking pretty heavily on dark harry/draco over the last few days, and i really want to use this series to explore that. 
> 
> this was basically just catharsis for me because i freaking hate the dursleys, and strongly believe that draco would hate them just as much (if not more than me)
> 
> i hope to upload the remaining parts of this series sometime soon. 
> 
> as per usual, all kudos, comments, bookmarks, etc are highly appreciated! <3


End file.
